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Yarrow Metheglin: Tasting Notes

I can’t believe that it took me this long to get back into mead making. We’re talking at least a couple of years, which is considerably longer than what I would have preferred. Upon having my first glass of this ferment, which is brewed with no more than ‘one handful’ of dried yarrow herb I am pleasantly surprised by how much I missed mead and didn’t notice. I totally let mead making slide and am firmly committing to not letting that happen. I encourage you all to hold me accountable.

I’d say I’m doing a pretty good job thus far as earlier this week I bottled my Chorus of Calamus mead which I will be sampling during the first week of April. Of course I am going to leave a bottle or two for a few months if not a year before sampling so as to understand how my different recipes (hopefully) improve as they age. I also have two more half gallon recipes fermenting away, but I’ll get to those in the coming weeks as they come into their own!

My first take on a yarrow mead is most certainly a success. It’s very clean tasting and somewhat dry (thanks to the tannins in the yarrow herb) but with only a slight hint of that characteristic, resinous yarrow flavour. This disappointed me initially, but only for a moment, as now I know that when I make this recipe again I’ll know that I can add more yarrow without completely overwhelming the drink. It’s important to know when to start small and work your way up.

If you missed the recipe for my yarrow metheglin #1 you can check that out right here. It’s definitely decent and a pleasant drink, but it’s lacking in what I wanted which was quite a bit of yarrow aroma, flavour and consequently, a higher concentration of the wonderful medicinal compounds that end up preserved in the mead itself. Beer, wine and mead after all partially owe their roots to being viewed as medicinal tonics, and many still are, if they are made with care and quality ingredients.

You can bet your bottom button too that you’ll be hearing from me soon about another yarrow mead recipe. Very much sooner than you think I bet. In conclusion: mead is pretty darn fun and I think you should give a shot. If you have found your way onto this website then it’s probably something you’d be into.

^ If you’re new to the neighbourhood and are wondering why my 1 out of 5 rating system for my home brewed experiments is Paul Westerberg smoking a cigar, it is because I am preserving an entirely pointless but wonderfully nostalgic icon from my early days contributing to Beers for Breakfast. There’s some great stuff on there, just say’n..